VOLUME II, ISSUE 2 APRIL 2010 Poor house, poor farm Idaho’s poorhouse Laws

Uç à{x Ätàx DLà{ vxÇàâÜç the county poorhouse system was well established in the U.S. as a means of caring for society’s indigents. The very first session of the Idaho Territorial Legislature in 1863 assigned the legal responsibility of caring for the poor to its county commissioners. Poorhouses were planned to be efficient, cost effective ways to provide relief to the poor, as well as an opportunity to reform them of the bad habits that were thought to have led them to poverty. Four Idaho counties were given special authority for poor farms, the first of which was Shoshone County. In 1883, the Idaho Territorial Legislature passed an act requiring Ada County to purchase a poor farm of 80 to 160 acres to provide for the care of the poor in Ada County: The said farm when so purchased shall be known as the Poor-farm of Ada County and the house thereon as the Poor-house. The 160-acre Ada County Poor Farm was established in a rural area in what is now northwest Boise, north of State Street. Poor farm occupants originally Calendar worked there to repay ILHS History Display their debt to society. May 24, 2010 As time passed Open House: Chambers of poorhouses became Judge Randy N. Smith, primarily nursing homes Pocatello, Idaho for impoverished elderly people. Idaho County’s poor farm. For example, the OVE July 15, 2010 R THE HILL Over t TO THE PO Twin Falls County poor he hill to the po OR-HOUSE Idaho State Bar Annual Meeting or- house I'm tru farm, that operated from I, a woman dgin' my weary of seventy, and way- -- Idaho Falls, Idaho I, who am s only a trifle gr the 1930s to 1968, was mart an' chippe ay- -- As r, for all the ye home to mostly elderly many another w ars I've told, Over t oman that's on July 16, 2010 he hill to the po ly half as old. men without families, O or- house- --I can U.S. Federal Courthouse ver the hill to t 't quite make i many of whom were he poor- house- - t clear! Many -it seems so hor Pocatello, Idaho a step I've take rid queer! bedridden. But n, a- toilin' to a this is a sort of nd fro, journey I never thought to go. —Will C In this issue: arleton 1897 Because its Poor House, Poor Farm 1 residents were mostly unable Angry Lawyer Shoots 3 to work, the county hired Judge Morford workers put up fruit, raise chickens, milk cows, cattle Noggle’s 3 and swine, grow vegetables Controversies and grain, and generally 20th Century Profiles: 4 provide for up to 100 Fred Lyon residents. (Continued on page 4) Senator Dubois & 5 Idaho’s Test Oath Bonner County’s poor house. IDAHO LEGAL HISTORY SOCIETY PAGE 2

ILHS Oral History A Message from the Past President Committee I am pleased to present the Idaho Legal History Society’s To participate in the Oral fourth issue of its quarterly newsletter (previous issues can be History Project as an viewed on the ILHS website at www.id.uscourts.gov/ilhs ). interviewer, narrator or Although I “officially” stepped down as President of the ILHS transcriber, please contact any in January, I am writing to give you a few important updates. of these committee members: First, please welcome our new President, Scott Reed, Vice-President, Judge Ron Wilper and (returning) Ernie Hoidal, Chair: Secretary/Treasurer, Susie Boring-Headlee. I am confident [email protected] that they will continue the many good activities that ILHS has Cameron Burke: begun, and will work to expand our many efforts and [email protected] offerings. Dianne Cromwell: ILHS Past President Second, I am very excited to report that the ILHS has Deb Kristensen [email protected] decided to undertake an ambitious project to collect the Teri Harbacheck: history of the practice of law in Idaho beginning in territorial times. To that end, we’ve [email protected] contracted with the editor of this newsletter, Claudia Druss, to research and draft a “coffee Kathy Hodges: table” book chronicling the 150-year history of the practice of law in Idaho. The working [email protected] title of this project is Tents to Towers: 150 Years of Legal Practice in Idaho . I have been working Katherine Moriarty: closely with Claudia to identify existing resources, and long-time ILHS member Judy Austin [email protected] has agreed to help edit this project as we move forward. As you can imagine, the book Scott Reed: project is not only an ambitious endeavor, but a potentially expensive one. Accordingly, [email protected] your generous donations to this project are always welcome (and tax-deductible)! Jess Walters: Third, over the past few years, the Oral History Committee of ILHS (currently chaired [email protected] by Ernie Hoidal) has successfully completed oral histories of some of Idaho’s most notable Ron Wilper: (and colorful) lawyers and judges. Many of these transcripts are now available to the public [email protected] at the Idaho State Historical Society’s library, while others are privately held pursuant to the Rita Ryan: [email protected] wishes of the subject. To help facilitate the dissemination of these oral histories, ILHS is currently inventorying its collection with the hope of posting such information on our website. In that way, members of the public can share in the wealth of information Idaho Legal Idaho Legal collected from these extraordinary individuals. History Society Finally, if you haven’t already done so, please consider renewing your annual membership to ILHS. For a modest fee of $25, you can be a part of an organization that is BOARD OF DIRECTORS truly working to save the past. Given our limited budget, much of our efforts come from a Judy Austin dedicated group of volunteers – but some costs and fees are unavoidable. Your membership Hon. Ronald E. Bush dollars help support the many good efforts currently underway and will help us grow the Ron Kerl ILHS to provide the public with access to even more valuable historical materials and Scott Reed information. For more information, please check our website. Larry Westberg

OFFICERS ILHS MISSION STATEMENT Scott Reed, President (1) To foster and promote public knowledge of, and interest in, Idaho's legal history; Ron Wilper, Vice President Susie Headlee, Secretary/ (2) To promote and encourage research of Idaho's legal history; Treasurer (3) To collect and preserve records, relics, oral histories and other things of interest to Idaho's legal history, and to make the same accessible for public examination;

This newsletter published (4) To encourage interest in Idaho's legal history through meetings, presentations, lectures and other quarterly by: public forums; and Idaho Legal History Society (5) To procure or publish and distribute historical material for educational purposes, the proceeds of 550 West Fort Street which, if any, are to be used exclusively for the express purposes of the Association. Boise, Idaho 83724 IDAHO LEGAL HISTORY SOCIETY PAGE 3 Lawyer Shoots Judge Morford Over a Woman \Ç à{x ÜÉâz{ tÇw àâÅuÄx wtçá of the and to other locations, sometimes alone. At some point Burmester learned that late 1860s, Idaho’s prominent lawyers and judges were just about as likely to be Morford’s wife was leaving him and seeking a involved in shootouts to settle disputes as divorce. She asked Burmester to handle the any other citizens. divorce for her. Although Morford initially stayed with Burmester during the separation Take the case of prominent Boise attorney Theodore Burmester, for whom from his wife, he later grew angry that the year 1869 was one of tragedy and loss. Burmester had caused the situation. Along with his legal practice in Boise City, On the day of the shooting, Burmester and his partner Judge Scaniker were discussing a he owned a ranch out on the Overland stage road where his wife and children case and decided to seek the opinion of two other attorneys, Mr. Rosborough and Mr. lived. Hart’s Exchange in Boise where Burmester and Ganahl. On the way, they passed Morford on Tragedy struck the family in the spring Morford stayed. Elliott’s 1884 History of Idaho Territory. Main Street. Burmester confronted Morford, of 1869 in a story reported as far away as New York. A farm hand at the ranch attacked Burmester’s wife saying that Morford “made a face” at him. Both fired shots and Minnie while Burmester was away. In the ensuing struggle, she Morford was killed. was shot in the abdomen while the man proceeded to set fire to This was not the first time Burmester was quick with a gun. At the Idaho Democratic convention in 1866, he reportedly fired point blank the Burmester house. Minnie managed to crawl out of the burning house. Her son at a prominent legislator and newspaper editor, H.C. Street, to settle was rescued by a neighbor; while others carried her to a nearby a dispute. Street was saved from death by a wallet in his breast pocket. farm and sent for medical help. Minnie died of her wounds several Burmester’s trial for murder was replete with witness descriptions of the times he and Mrs. Morford had been seen together. More than days later. The house had burned completely and the farmhand’s remains were later found in the ruins. 60 witnesses were called in all. After the loss of his wife and home, Burmester moved to a In a scandalous verdict, Burmester was acquitted of all charges after Boise hotel, Hart’s Exchange, but continued to visit the ranch the jury deliberated about 30 minutes. Presiding Judge David Noggle was accused in an Idaho Statesman editorial of having instilled in the periodically. He spent the spring term of the court in Owyhee County where he met Judge Russell B. Morford. Morford was jury a bias to acquit Burmester despite all evidence. The court of newly arrived in Idaho from Oregon where he had been the public opinion was clearly against Burmester. Umatilla County Judge and County Clerk. After the trial, Burmester sold his ranch and left Idaho. He went on to practice law for many more years n Oregon and Utah where he Burmester was depressed about the loss of his wife and

Morford socialized with him, offering his own wife’s singing and died in 1894. Sources: Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman guitar playing to cheer him up. Later that summer Burmester was December 1869, January 1870; seen with Mrs. Morford on several buggy rides out to his ranch Portland Oregonian, June 1866 Chief Justice Noggle’s Controversies ]âwzx Wtä|w aÉzzÄx was no stranger to controversy in Idaho. He was deeply involved in the divisive political struggles of 1869, when Democrats and Republicans fought for control of the new territory. In the hotly contested Chinese Miners’ Tax case, his unclear ruling angered both sides of the controversy. He did not find that a special tax on only Chinese miners was illegal, but he did throw out the case for procedural reasons. Some Democrats denounced Noggle's ruling on the tax as a "mess of baseless, utterly absurd, almost senile, and wretchedly ridiculous slop." He was described by one writer of the time as “a man whose brain was affected, and who allowed himself to be made the instrument by which thieving politicians carried their points.” Noggle was repeatedly ridiculed in the pages of the Idaho Statesman, often because nearly all his cases resulted in acquittal of the defendant. Noggle had grown up on the frontier in Ohio where he had little time for education. He married, moved to Illinois, and was admitted to the bar in 1838 with no formal legal education. He opened a law Chief Justice David Noggle. office in Wisconsin and was elected to the first state constitutional convention in 1846. There he Photo: Idaho State Historical Society championed women’s rights among other causes. Noggle was elected judge of the First Judicial Circuit of Wisconsin in 1858. He was appointed Chief Justice of Idaho Territory by President Grant in 1869, a position he held until 1874 when he resigned due to poor health. He was said to have suffered from dementia. Sources: History of Rock County, Wisconsin 1879; History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana: 1845-1889, H.H. Bancroft; Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series #83. IDAHO LEGAL HISTORY SOCIETY PAGE 4 20th Century Idaho Profiles The Human Touch: Frederick C. Lyon This personal profile was excerpted from an associated with the cases. interview by the ILHS oral history program, Supreme Court Justices drew their cases documenting the history of legal practice in Idaho. by lot from a ballot box. Later the system changed and the law clerks drew the cases. Frederick C. (Fred) Lyon was Clerk of the The Supreme Court heard three cases a day in Idaho Supreme Court for 22 years before he Coeur d’Alene, Moscow and Lewiston for the retired at the end of 2004. He was born in North Idaho Term. The Southeast Idaho Term 1939 in Salmon, Idaho, the son of an attorney included Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Twin Falls. and a legal secretary. He attended the During the winter months, the court stayed in University of Idaho law school where he met Boise. his wife, Diana Burns. Lyon also handled uncontested motions, Lyon graduated with a juris doctorate in admission ceremonies for the Idaho State Bar, 1964 and joined his father’s law firm in annual memorial ceremonies for deceased Salmon. He was elected prosecuting Frederick C. Lyon judges and attorneys, and Idaho Reports, which attorney in Salmon and later worked in included the opinions of the Idaho Supreme various legal positions. He joined the Idaho Supreme Court Court and the Court of Appeals. in 1982, about the time the state Court of Appeals began. At Before the justices came out on the bench, Lyon ensured that time, Charles Donaldson was Chief Justice of the that the attorneys were present in the courtroom and helped Supreme Court and Jesse Walters was chief judge of the put nervous first-time attorneys at ease: Court of Appeals. I would try to spend a little more time with them and tell Lyon’s work for the court initially included scheduling them that the justices put their pants on in the morning cases and reserving courtrooms through out the state. the same way they did and that...it was going to be a good During court travel he was responsible for all the files experience for him or her. During his 22-years with the Court, Lyon maintained his residence in Pocatello and commuted to Boise. While in Boise, he volunteered at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in the neonatal intensive care unit. There he held newborn infants and played with other hospitalized infants, providing them with the all-important benefits of human touch and attention during their medical treatment. —From an oral history interview by Cameron Burke Idaho Supreme Court Building —Reported by Jean M. Buchanan Idaho Governor Norman Willey in the Poorhouse (Continued from page 1) Willey played a role in the 1892 Coeur d’Alene mining Folks without families or resources from any background troubles, where he worked to subdue miner unrest in a could end up in the poorhouse. After a series of financial conflict that eventually led to a declaration of martial law and setbacks, one of Idaho’s governors, Norman B. Willey, lived the arrest of nearly 600 miners . After extended litigation, the in the county poorhouse near Topeka, Kansas. U.S. Supreme Court reverse d many of the convictions and the Willey had been a mine superintendent who moved to miners returned home as heroes. the northern Idaho gold camps in 1864. His political career After his term as governor, Willey returned to mining, but began with two terms in the Idaho legisl ature. did not fare well financially, endi ng up in a poorhouse in He became governor of Idaho when Governor George L. Kansas. The Idaho legislature ev entually assisted him by Shoup, who planned to move on to the U.S. Senate in 1890, appropriating $1,200 for him as an unofficial pension. arranged to have him elected lieuten ant governor. Willey Sources:: Poor Law Legislation, would to take over as governor when Shoup moved to the Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series #151; Idaho Oral History Center #540; Senate. Norman B. Willey, Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series IDAHO LEGAL HISTORY SOCIETY PAGE 5 Senator Dubois & Idaho’s Test Oath WâÜ|Çz t wtÜ~ xÑ|áÉwx |Ç \wt{ÉËá ÄxztÄ {|áàÉÜç By 1896, Dubois had split from the main Republican Party and was anti-Mormonism was incorporated into state law, reflecting the leader of the Silver Republican the fervent public debate of the day as well as backroom faction, supporting presidential political deals. Anti-Mormon fervor was fanned by the candidate William Jennings Bryan, actions of one of Idaho’s most controversial politicians, Fred over Republican candidate, William T. Dubois. Dubois was both a Republican and Democratic McKinley. McKinley won and congressman from eastern Idaho. Dubois lost re-election to the U.S. He was born in Illinois in 1851 and Senate. graduated from Yale in 1872. Dubois moved After the loss, Dubois continued to Idaho Territory in 1880. Two years later his efforts to defeat McKinley and he was elected U.S. Marshal of Idaho and won control of Idaho’s Democratic later served as the warden of the penitentiary party through the "dynamiter" in Boise. faction that opposed Governor In the 1880s he led a campaign to Steunenberg's handling of the 1899 disfranchise Mormon voters on the grounds labor dispute in the Coeur d'Alenes. that they had violated Idaho law by practicing Dubois built a powerful state machine of Democrats polygamy, and that church leaders in Salt Fred T. Dubois that gained control of the Idaho legislature. His faction Lake City unduly influenced Idaho politics. of the party vowed to send him to the national convention for This campaign led to the test oath, passed in 1884, that was the purpose of getting an anti-Mormon plank in the national designed to disfranchise anyone who practiced polygamy or platform. However, in 1908 he was removed from Democratic belonged to an organization that advocated polygamy. party leadership by a decision of the state supreme court. Dubois ran as a Republican for Congressional delegate Although Dubois accomplished a number of beneficial acts for from Idaho Territory on a platform of Free Silver and Idaho, including helping to secure statehood, he may be most anti-Mormonism in 1886. He won over the incumbent widely remembered for his virulent anti-Mormonism. Dubois Democrat "Honest John" Hailey. At age 40, Dubois was the died in Washington, D.C. in 1930 and is buried in Blackfoot, youngest man in the U.S. Senate, serving as a delegate to the Idaho. Fiftieth and Fifty-First Congresses (1887 to 1890). He was Sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Library of Congress; elected Republican Senator from Idaho in 1890 and served Fred T. Dubois Biographical Sketch, L.W. Graff, Jr.; from 1891 to 1897. Idaho State University, A Man of the Times: Judge Standrod Drew W. Standrod was born in Kentucky in 1859, the son of a prominent physician. He graduated from Cadiz Institute in Kentucky in 1880 and was admitted to the bar in Kentucky. In 1882 he moved to Idaho where he practiced law in Malad City. Standrod was elected district attorney as an Independent Anti-Mormon in 1886 during a period of anti-Mormon activism in county and state politics. In his second term he was a member of the Idaho Constitutional Convention drafting committee. Standrod was elected district judge for the Fifth Judicial District in 1890 and held that office until 1899 Standrod Mansion . when he returned to legal practice in the Pocatello, Idaho Photo: Idaho Museum of Natural History firm of Standrod & Terrell. He moved to Pocatello in 1895 and built an ornate 16-room classical revival-style house in 1902. After leaving the bench, Standrod had extensive banking interests. He and his partners purchased the First National Bank of Pocatello and he later served as president of D. W. Standrod & Company's Bank of Blackfoot. Standrod ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1900 and later served on Idaho's state public utilities commission. He passed away in 1942. Sources: History of Idaho , H.T. French 1914; Idaho Statesman Drew W. Standrod 1900; D. W. Standrod’s Mansion, Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series #965. IDAHO LEGAL HISTORY SOCIETY PAGE 6 Idaho legal history society 2010 members

Judy Austin, Boise, Idaho David L. & Faye Metcalf, Boise, Idaho John A. Bailey, Pocatello, Idaho Michael C. Moore, Boise, Idaho Jennifer Birken, Boise, Idaho Thomas & Katherine Moriarty, Esq., Idaho Falls, Idaho Judge Galen Box, Pocatello, Idaho Thomas Mortell, Esq., Boise, Idaho Larry & Beverly Boyle, Boise, Idaho Judge Terry L. Myers, Boise, Idaho Cameron S. Burke, Boise, Idaho Neil McFeeley, Boise, Idaho Carl Burke, Boise, Idaho Jack McMahon, Boise, Idaho Dean Donald Burnett, Moscow, Idaho Judge Thomas G. Nelson, Boise, Idaho Judge Ronald E. Bush, Boise, Idaho Linda Pall, Moscow, Idaho Judge David & Mary Ellen Carter, California Ken Pedersen, Esq., Boise, Idaho Judge Lowell Castleton, Boise, Idaho Judge Darrel R. Perry, Boise, Idaho Angus E. Crane, Alexandria, Virginia Jason E. Prince, Boise, Idaho Judge Candy Wagahoff Dale & Jim Dale, Boise, Idaho Scott W. Reed, Esq., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Daniel Dansie, Idaho Falls, Idaho Jennifer M. Reinhardt, Boise, Idaho Ritchie Eppink, Esq., Boise, Idaho John T. Richards, Los Osos, California Fourth District Bar Association Peter & Betty Richardson, Boise, Idaho Sandijean Fuson, Esq., Vale, Oregon John L. Runft, Boise, Idaho Jenny & James C. Grunke, Boise, Idaho Rita Ryan, Boise, Idaho Daniel J. Gordon, Boise, Idaho Professor Richard Seamon, Moscow, Idaho Shannon S. Harris, Boise, Idaho J. Walter Sinclair, Boise, Idaho Paul & Susie Headlee, Hidden Springs, Idaho Libby A. & Ron Smith, Boise, Idaho Hawley Troxell Ennis & Hawley, Boise, Idaho Matthew Harrison Smith & Holly Kandler, Boise, Idaho Ernest A. Hoidal, Esq. Boise, Idaho Judge N. Randy & LaDean Smith, Pocatello, Idaho Holland & Hart, LLP, Boise, Idaho Richard G. Smith, Boise, Idaho Idaho Chapter, Federal Bar Association Anne Solomon, Esq., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Byron J. Johnson, Idaho Supreme Court Justice, retired, Jane Spencer, Grangeville, Idaho Boise, Idaho Mitch & Kim Wherry Toryanski, Boise, Idaho James F.& Linda Judd, Boise, Idaho Kathryn A. Way, Pocatello, Idaho Ron Kerl, Esg., Boise, Idaho P. Larry & Carmen Westberg, Boise, Idaho Debora Kristensen, Boise, Idaho Bradley B. Williams, Pasadena, California David H. Leroy, Esq., Boise, Idaho Judge Ronald & Rita Wilper, Boise, Idaho Glenda Longstreet, Kuna, Idaho Judge B. Lynn & Judy Winmill, Pocatello, Idaho Bill Mauk, Esq., Boise, Idaho Memorial Contributions Idaho Legal History Society In memory of: Membership Form Chase A. Clark, Federal Judge Annual Membership and contributions to advance by Michael C. Moore the understanding and appreciation of the legal history of Idaho. Allyn Dingel, Esq. INDIVIDUAL ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP (2010): $25.00____ by Debora Kristensen SPECIAL OR MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS: ______Abraham Lincoln, Lawyer Contributed in memory of: ______by David H. Leroy, Esq. Total: ______Don J. McClenahan, Esq . Please make check payable to: IDAHO LEGAL HISTORY SOCIETY by Ernest A. Hoidal, Esq Send to the attention of: SUSIE BORING-HEADLEE Edward W. "Ted" Pike IDAHO LEGAL HISTORY SOCIETY by Judge Ronald E. Bush 550 W. FORT ST. BOISE, IDAHO 83724 Governor Frank Steunenberg Membership contributions to the Society are tax deductible within the limits of the law. by John T. Richards Member Name :______Address: ______Elaine Wagahoff Phone: ______by Judge Candy Wagahoff Dale